We have the plans for the Glen-L Sequoia and it calls for aluminum siding over the insulation. I don't really like the look on something so small and want to consider other things but in trying to keep it as light as the aluminum siding would be, I'm not sure if we would really have other options. I have seen a little book that would easily fit in your pocket at the hardware store and it is for contractor's, etc. with measurements, weights and such and I am wondering if anyone has used it and if it might be helpful? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as we try to work our way through this. Cathy

Cathy, if you know what materials you would like to use, pretty much all data could be found on the internet. A 4'X8' sheet of aluminum .04" thick weighs about the same as a 4'X8' sheet of plywood .125"(1/8") thick.

I looked at the notes for Sequoia on the the Glen-L web site and they offer an option of using 1/8" paneling on some of the interior instead of 3/16". If you used 1/8" ply on all of the interior and 3/16" or 1/4" on the exterior there won't be much loss of strength(people use 3/32" to skin airplanes they actually fly in) and not much, if any, weight penalty(too lazy to calculate).

Steve Wolverton built his Puffin(a TTT) with 1/4" plywood only for the walls with minimal framing and didn't seem to have any problems.

My roof is Filon. I like the look of the silver aluminum but I didn't want the Colorado hail storms to ding it all up. We get a couple of storms a year and it'll make a car look like a bunch of monkeys were beating on it with ballpein hammers.

Hail is always a concern to us as we have lived in AL, NC, AZ and KS and all had hail storms - bad ones. Good thing about this little TT is that it will fit in the antique garage but could still get caught in a storm away from home. I really like all the ideas presented. We have limited skills but are highly motivated. Thanks, Cathy

Filon is fairly flexible, so that it will take a bend around a teardrop. The gelcoat used in the interior applications "should" be UV resistant - I don't know of any that isn't. But filon WILL be UV resistant.

It also has a finish more like a new car.

"Houses are but badly built boats so firmly aground that you cannot think of moving them.... The desire to build a house is the tired wish of a man content thenceforward with a single anchorage. The desire to build a boat is the desire of youth, unwilling yet to accept the idea of a final anchorage." - Arthur Ransome: Racundra's First Cruise, 1923